Tape cartridge holder

ABSTRACT

A holder for tape cartridge cassettes which includes a receptacle sized to receive a plurality of the cassettes in stacked, side-by-side relation and which receptacle includes sidewalls which are hingedly connected to the floor of the receptacle so as to expand when the tapes are tilted in a common direction which serves to expose the nameplates so that a user may identify the cassette which he desires to utilize without the necessity of removing all of the cassettes from the holder.

United States Patent [72] Inventor John H. Weggeland 2,488,262 1 1/1949 Bengelsdorf 206/57UX 40] E. Leland Heights Blvd., Lehigh Acres, 3,009,564 1 1/ 1 961 Celoso 206/73 Fla. 33936 3,294,229 12/1966 McConnell et al. 206/57 [2]] Appl. No. 787,288 3,122,236 2/1964 Michiel 206/73 [22] Filed Nov. 26, 1968 3,409,193 1 1/1968 Metcalf 206/19.5(A) [45] Patented 1971 Primary Examiner-William T. Dixson, Jr.

Alt0rney.lohn Cyril Malloy [54] TAPE CARTRIDGE HOLDER 8 Claims, 5 Drawing Figs. U-S- A holder for tape cartridge cassettes in- 206/1; 229/22 cludes a receptacle sized to receive a plurality of the cassettes [5 l 1 Int. in tacked side-by side relation and receptacle includes 0f 73, sidewalls are connected to the floor of the 62, 44(M), 9500), 3 1 3 6) receptacle so as to expand when the tapes are tilted in a com- References Cited mon direction which serves to expose "the nameplates so that a user may identify the cassette which he desires to utilize UNITED STATES PATENTS without the necessity of removing all of the cassettes from the 2,078,018 4/ 1937 Powell 206/44( M) holder.

1 TAPE CARTRIDGE HOLDER This invention relates to a holder for the cartridges or cassettes on which information is stored on tapes.

As is perhaps well known, there has been a problem of stacking cassettes or cartridges on which information is recorded on tape. Because the cartridges are'manufactured for particular units in which they arekeyed for use, there are often projecting portions of such cartridges which render it difficult or impossible to stack them in a convenient vertical relation with respect to one another. Therefore, it is difficult to have a neat collection of such'information. The present invention provides a holder for the cassettes which includes a receptacle having sidewalls which are hingedly connected to the floor of the receptacle to extend away from one another when the cartridges or cassettes are'tilted in their respective receptacles which has the effect of permitting the nameplates to be examined without removing the cassettes from the receptacle. The receptacle also includes a protective hood or cover to close the receptacle.

It is, accordingly, an object of this invention to provide an attractive, inexpensive receptacle for storing a predetermined number of cartridges in side-by-side, aligned relation, which receptacle includes hingedly connected sidewalls so that the cassettes or cartridges may be tilted all in a common direction to expose nameplates on the cartridges to obviate the need of removing the cassettes from the receptacle to determine the information stored on each.

It is another object of this invention to provide an improved tape cartridge or cassette holder which is composed of inexpensive, lightweight plastic material which is adapted for use in holding a plurality of tape cassettes.

In accordance with these and other objects which will become apparent hereinafter, the instant invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which;

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the closed tape cassette or cartridge holder;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view similar to FIG. 1 with the cover hood removed and exposing the receptacle of the holder;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view similar to FIG. 2 but with the hingedly connected sidewalls extended for reading nameplates on the cartridges;

FIG. 4 is a view in cross section taken along the plane indicated by the line 44 of FIG. 1 and looking in the direction of the arrows;

FIG. 5 is a top plan view of the receptacle portion of the device seen in FIG. 2 with the flap sidewalls hingedly extending in the common plane of the floor of the receptacle.

Referring to the drawings, wherein like reference characters designate like or corresponding views, there is shown the holder 12 in FIG. 1 which includes a receptacle l4 and a mating hood or cover member 16. As seen in FIGS. 2 and 4, the receptacle includes a floor 18 having opposing, hingedly connected, flap type sidewalls 20 and 22 which are hingedly connected to the floor as at 24 and 26 and extend across the floor and upwardly to terminal edges 30 and 32. Along the edge of the upper portion of each of the flaptype sidewalls a cutout portion, such as 36 and 38, is provided for a purpose to be described. The receptacle also includes opposite partial end walls of truncated, triangular shape, which are designated by the numerals 40 and 42 in the drawings. The opposite edges of each of these end walls, those edges designated 44 and 46 and 48 and 50, act as stops to define a plane of abutment which the flap-type sidewalls normally rest when in the attitude relative to the floor shown in FIG. 4. Resilient means, generally designated by the numeral 52, which may comprise a rubber band, are provided to connect the flap walls and to normally hold them together in the attitude shown in FIG. 4. It is thus seen that between these walls there is defined a chamber 56 within which a plurality of tape cartridge cassettes may be received in horizontal stack form, i.e., in side-by-side relation as designated by the numerals 58, 60 and 62 in FIG. 4.

As will be readily appreciated, the cartridges or casscttcs are of a shape which is dictated in part by the particular apparatus in which they are intended to be used. For instance, many of the commonly encountered cassettes include an enlarged irregular base portion, such as 70, which is intended to engage a companion part of a record playing device. Because of the irregular shape which characterizes cassettes, it has been found difficult to stack them in a convenient place for use. The receptacle of the present holder is sized such that the distance between the end walls is just slightly larger than the major width of the cassettes to be held by it, as indicated by the numeral 72, and the opposite edges, 74 and 76 of the end walls, 40 and 42 in FIG. 2, determine the distance 78 which in turn determines the capacity in terms of number of cassettes to be held by the holder. In the preferred construction, the included angle between the plane of the floor and the converging planes of the flap-type sidewalls are equal, with the span between the upper terminal edges 30 and 32, when the flap sidewalls are in the normal position as held by the resilient means 52, being substantially equal to the thickness of the plurality of cassettes intended to be held within the holder.

Thus, a predetermined number of cassettes, such as three cassettes shown in the drawings, may be placed in side-by-side relation and positioned within the receptacle as shown in FIG. 2 in which they are snuggly resting in a normal attitude. Each of the cassettes ordinarily includes a nameplate as indicated by the numerals 58', 60 and 62' on which identification is provided as to the type of information contained on the tape of the cassette involved. When one desires to select a tape of the series held in the receptacle, the cartridges or cassettes are tilted as indicated in FIG. 3 so that the nameplates are exposed and the cartridge desired may be removed from the holder.

It is intended that the primary use of this holder will be to store irregular shaped cartridges of the type which include a pair of spaced reels and an enlarged base, with the body of the cassette ordinarily being manufactured from plastic materials. The hood or cover protectively encloses a series of such tapes when held within the chamber of the receptacle. The hood may be of a more rigid plastic material than that of the receptacle; however, the range of plastic materials suitable for use in manufacturing the holder is not limited by this distinction.

It will be apparent that in addition to tapes on which musical renditions may be stored, other information may be maintained in the cartridges or cassettes intended to be held by the instant device.

As is indicated in FIG. 5, the receptacle may be of one-piece molded plastic construction composed of the end walls and flap-type sidewalls with the dotted lines indicated by the numerals and 77 comprising hinges of plastic material at the line of juncture of the floor and the flap-type sidewalls. It will thus be apparent that the receptacle may be formed of molded plastic material, such as polypropylene, which is inexpensive and lightweight.

I claim:

1. For use in holding a plurality of similarly sized tape cartridge cassettes and characterized by a thickness, height and width, a base portion and a nameplate, :a holder comprising:

A receptacle having a floor and opposite truncated isosceles triangular end walls in upstanding relation, said end walls having a height less than the height of said cartridges and the span across the top of said end walls being larger than the combined thicknesses of said plurality;

said receptacle including a pair of opposed sidewalls and including hinge means connecting the sidewalls to said floor, said sidewalls normally overlaying the opposing planes defined by the opposite edges of said end walls and in abutment with said edges, the distance between the terminal edges of said sidewall when overlaying said edges being substantially the same as but slightly larger than the combined thickness of said plurality, and said receptacle defining a chamber between said walls to receive said plurality in side-by-side relation; and

resilient means to maintain the sidewalls in abutting engagement 1, the end walls and yieldable in response to tilting of the plurality of Cassettes to expose the nameplates to permit the flap-type sidewall to extend away from the plane of abutment with the end walls for exposure of the nameplates.

2. The improvement as set forth in claim ll, wherein said holder includes a shell-type cover to protectively cover a plurality of cassettes and the receptacle, said cover being sized for mating engagement with the receptacle when the sidewalls are in the normal position.

3. The improvement as set forth in claim 1, wherein said hinge means comprise a flexible plastic flap interconnecting the flap-type sidewalls and the floor.

4. The improvement as set forth in claim 1, wherein said receptacle is of one-piece molded plastic material.

5. The improvement as set forth in claim i. wherein said resilient means comprises a rubber band and the side edges of said sidewalls include a cutout to receive the rubber band and said rubber band has a normal length slightly less than the 

1. For use in holding a plurality of similarly sized tape cartridge cassettes and characterized by a thickness, height and width, a base portion and a nameplate, a holder comprising: A receptacle having a floor and opposite truncated isosceles triangular end walls in upstanding relation, said end walls having a height less than the height of said cartridges and the span across the top of said end walls being larger than the combined thicknesses of said plurality; said receptacle including a pair of opposed sidewalls and including hinge means connecting the sidewalls to said floor, said sidewalls normally overlaying the opposing planes defined by the opposite edges of said end walls and in abutment with said edges, the distance between the terminal edges of said sidewall when overlaying said edges being substantially the same as but slightly larger than the combined thickness of said plurality, and said receptacle defining a chamber between said walls to receive said plurality in side-by-side relation; and resilient means to maintain the sidewalls in abutting engagement 1, the end walls and yieldable in response to tilting of the plurality of cassettes to expose the nameplates to permit the flap-type sidewall to extend away from the plane of abutment with the end walls for exposure of the nameplates.
 2. The improvement as set forth in claim -1, wherein said holder includes a shell-type cover to protectively cover a plurality of cassettes and the receptacle, said cover being sized for mating engagement with the receptacle when the sidewalls are in the normal position.
 3. The improvement as set forth in claim 1, wherein said hinge means comprise a flexible plastic flap interconnecting the flap-type sidewalls and the floor.
 4. The improvement as set forth in claim 1, wherein said receptacle is of one-piece molded plastic material.
 5. The improvement as set forth in claim 1, wherein said resilient means comprises a rubber band and the side edges of said sidewalls include a cutout to receive the rubber band and said rubber band has a normal length slightly less than the periphery about said cutout when the sidewalls are in the normal position whereby the rubber band normally urges the sidewalls into the normal position.
 6. The improvement as set forth in claim 2 wherein said hinge means comprises a flexible plastic flap interconnecting the flap-type sidewalls and the floor.
 7. The improvement as set forth in claim 3 wherein said receptacle is of one-piece molded plastic material.
 8. The improvement as set forth in claim 2 wherein said receptacle is of one-piece molded plastic material. 